Hernandez v. National Railroad Passenger Corp.

35 Pa. D. & C.3d 391, 1984 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 165
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County
DecidedNovember 20, 1984
Docketno. 1911 February term, 1981
StatusPublished

This text of 35 Pa. D. & C.3d 391 (Hernandez v. National Railroad Passenger Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hernandez v. National Railroad Passenger Corp., 35 Pa. D. & C.3d 391, 1984 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 165 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1984).

Opinion

KING, J.,

SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS

Presently before the court is a motion for summary judgment filed on behalf of defendant, National Railroad Passenger Corporation, a/k/a AMTRAK. The chronology of this case is as follows:

Plaintiff, Franklin Hernandez, filed a complaint in trespass against defendant, AMTRAK, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, on September 21, 1978. Plaintiff alleged that he was injured while performing his duties as a trackman and that AMTRAK was liable under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, 45 U.S.C. §51 et seq. The suit was amicably settled by release in the amount of $30,000 and on April 17, 1979, the District Court dismissed the action with prejudice.

On or about February 3, 1981, plaintiff commenced the present action against AMTRAK. He alleged that AMTRAK’s refusal to rehire him constituted discrimination under three Federal Statutes: (1) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended. 42 U.S.C. §2000e et seq. (2) The Federal Employers’ Liability Act, 45 U.S.C. §51 et seq. (3) The Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. §1981.

Defendant filed preliminary objections to plaintiff’s complaint on the basis that plaintiff failed to exhaust the administrative remedies provided by Title VII. Defendant also argued that plaintiff’s discrimination claim, under 42 U.S.C. §1981, failed to allege that he had been discriminated against on the basis of race. Plaintiff filed an answer to defendant’s [393]*393preliminary objections and thereafter, reply briefs were filed.

On September 28, 1981, the Honorable Charles L. Durham dismissed defendant’s preliminary objections to plaintiff’s claim under Title VII and sustained defendant’s objection to plaintiff’s claim under 42 U.S.C. §1981. The court also granted plaintiff leave to file an amended complaint which plaintiff filed timely. The amended complaint reasserted plaintiff’s prior claims and added a second count alleging fraud or mutual mistake in connection with the aforementioned release he signed to settle his first action against defendant.

On July 28, 1982, with the consent of defendant and permission of the court, plaintiff filed a second amended complaint and added a third count alleging retaliatory discharge. Thereafter, defendant again filed preliminary objections to plaintiff’s claim under Title VII. The objections were overruled by the Honorable Charles A. Lord on October 19, 1982. Accordingly, defendant filed a petition for reconsideration of its preliminary objections. The petition was denied by Judge Lord on November 11, 1982.

This court is of the opinion that defendant’s present motion for summary judgment should be granted.

ARGUMENT

As set forth in the summary of proceedings, plaintiff’s action now consists of three claims:

Count One: Discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §2000e et seq.; 42 U.S.C. §1981; The Federal Employers’ Liability Act, 45 U.S.C. §51 et seq.

[394]*394Count Two: Fraud or Mutual Mistake in the procurement of said release.

Count Three: Retaliatory or Wrongful Discharge. Each claim will be addressed separately.

DISCRIMINATION UNDER TITLE VII

Title VII is a Federal statute available to those persons who suffer injuries on account of unlawful employment discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex or national origin. As set out in the statute, victims of alleged unlawful employment discrimination must first file a timely charge of employment discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity commission. This allows the commission an opportunity to investigate the charge and thereafter urge voluntary compliance with the law through conciliation. If these efforts fail, the commission then notifies the individual of his or her right to bring suit under Title VII. Only after recourse to said remedy proves unsuccessful may the charge become the subject of court action.1

In the instant matter, plaintiff did not file a charge of employment discrimination with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission. Instead, plaintiff argues that his claim is a continuing one and therefore, he need not fulfill the statutory requirements at this point.2 Plaintiff further argues that the prior rulings of the court dismissing defendant’s preliminary objections to said discrimina[395]*395tion claim under Title VII have become the law of the case and should not be disturbed.3

This court fails to find plaintiff’s arguments persuasive. In light of the Title VII requirements and plaintiff’s failure to satisfy them, we find little room for argument. Moreover, we see no reason why plaintiff in this case should be allowed to circumvent the requirements of the statute.

The law is well settled. An aggrieved individual must exhaust the administrative remedies provided by Title VII before bringing suit under Title VII. See Peterson v. Lehigh Valley District Council, 453 F. Supp. 735 (E.D., Pa. 1978); Smith v. Joseph Home Co., 438 F. Supp. 1207 (E.D., Pa. 1977); Love v. Pullman Company, 404 U.S. 522, 92 S.Ct. 616 (1972).

Plaintiff further argues that the proceedings dismissing defendant’s preliminary objections to the discrimination claim, under Title VII, have become the law of the case and should not be disturbed. In support of this, plaintiff cites Perma Research and Development Company v. Singer Company, 308 F. Supp. 743 (S.D. N.Y. 1970).

In Perma, defendant raised the same arguments, cited the same authorities, and presented identical facts in two motions for summary judgment. The court had previously rejected the first motion. Upon reviewing the second motion, the court noted that, “. . . a decision in a given case is said to be the law of the case and no question previously decided will be decided again. ...” Id. at 746.

Although plaintiff cites Perma to support its contention regarding prior rulings as the law of the case, the court, in Perma, did not indicate that a [396]*396subsequent court must be bound by those rulings. On the contrary, the court, in Perma, also noted that, “. . . the law of the case does not readily bind a court to its former decisions, but is only addressed to its good sense ... its applicability turns on a number of considerations. . . . No questions previously decided will be decided again unless there is some compelling reason.” (Emphasis supplied.) Id. at 746.

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35 Pa. D. & C.3d 391, 1984 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 165, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hernandez-v-national-railroad-passenger-corp-pactcomplphilad-1984.